BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN is wandering freely in the world, and it’s so exciting! I love watching what happens when a book is in the wild–you just don’t know where it will go.
And BMUC has recently received some generous honors. It’s a Top Ten pick for the 2013 Rainbow List, and it was also placed on the 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults list (all lists from the American Library Association). So excited about these lists! The announcements were wonderful, unexpected surprises. Being loved on by librarians is pretty awesome.
One other surprise happened the same week the awards lists came out: BEAUTIFUL MUSIC was featured in an article about YA fiction in The Advocate, one of the largest LGBT magazines out there. And they used my purple hair photo! It feels really good to be acknowledged by them. A student showed me the article, and I squealed when I saw it. Not gonna lie.
If you are unfamiliar with Gabe’s world and need a basic synopsis of the book, here you go:
Gabe Williams is a guy with big summer plans. He’s got a job as a radio DJ, following in the footsteps of his mentor, and he wants to move far away after graduation. He’s also hoping his best friend Paige will fall in love with him—she’s smart, she’s hot, and she tolerates his music habit. He couldn’t ask for more. His only problem? The rest of the world has known him as Elizabeth for the last eighteen years.
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN is the story of how Gabe learns to be a guy so he can leave Elizabeth behind. Some good things happen in the course of his summer—Gabe graduates, gets asked out, and gets loved by the fans of his show. But he also gets outed and threatened, and he must defend himself against violence that’s rooted in fear. In essence, Gabe’s journey to find himself is the same one we all take. His is just electrified, amplified, and broadcast into the night.
Here’s a link to the Publisher’s Weekly review as well as the Kirkus review. You can buy it at IndieBound, Barnes and Noble, or other fine establishments.
Hi Kristin,
Amy Tipton asked me to touch base with you regarding Beautiful Music for Ugly Children. My name is Adam Hornyak and I am a featured writer for Front Row Monthly magazine (www.frontrowmonthly.com). We recently developed a spinoff site devoted to authors and aspiring writers called Front Row Lit (www.frontrowlit.com). The purpose of the site is to provide our readers with tips on writing, book reviews, author publicity, and we accept creative writing submissions and poetry from our readers. We would love to feature an excerpt from your book, or detailed synopsis if you are interested. If you’d like we can certainly include links back to your website and Amazon order page. All I would need from you is whatever you would like to show off, and I can take it from there.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Adam
i wish to know more about this please.
Where did my comment go? AAACK! Amanda, did you ever find out more about BEAUTIFUL MUSIC? Please let me know if I can get you more information.
I loved this book and I’m not a young adult. I’m gender variant, a radio geek and living to “two worlds.” Gabe is in radio and has “come out.” I purchased two copies and will give the second copy to my local LGBT Center library: it has an active young adult program.
Congrats and thank you!
Hi, Jeri–thanks so much for the compliment! And thanks for sharing BMUC with friends. That’s kind of you. My apologies for the delay in responding to this comment–my notifications aren’t working! : (
I just wanted to say that I really liked this book! I may not be trans but I know exactly how Gabe feels. I’m sorta genderqueer, well kind of. But I have fallen in love with some of my friends and they reacted the same way.
Jody, thanks! I’m glad you felt a kinship with Gabe.
I really enjoyed reading “Beautiful Music for Ugly Children”. You created a great Characters that people can relate too. I’m a trans just like Gabe and know how he feels. I also liked your author note were you explained what transgender is.
Thank you, Kay! I’m glad you felt you could relate. And I’m sorry I’m late in replying–my comment alert thingy is messed up.
I. Love. This. Book.
Being genderqueer and obsessed with almost every artist mentioned in this book, I fangirl-squealed every other page while reading this.
Let’s just say my English teacher gave me some really weird looks.
Basically, I can really relate to Gabe and I love how you wrote him correctly. Thanks!
Thank *you*, Sarah! It’s always awesome to hear someone say “I can really relate,” and I’m glad you enjoyed the music, too. Tell your English teacher to come talk to me, if s/he gives you any crap about enjoying a book! : )
Best. Book. Ever. Or at least the best book that is not a dystopia. I myself am a triangle although the only people that know are my closest friends…. unfortunately. I had never read a LGBT themed book before, but I loved this one! I think it’s a book every person who exists needs to read because soooooososososos many people on this planet misunderstand gender and the difference between gender and sex. In my English class we are required to give book talks every month, so I’m going to give one over your book tomorrow! Honestly, I am kinda terrified. Public speaking is hard, but considering most of the people in my class don’t understand gender…. that doesn’t make it any easier. But I think everybody needs to know about it and I hope I can get a few people to read your book! Thanks soooo much for writing this and sharing it with the world! It has an excellent plot and a wonderful message! I LOVE YOU!
Rory! I’m so sorry I didn’t see your post until now. Thanks so much for sharing Gabe with others, and I’m happy happy happy the book touched your heart. : ) That’s the best kind of compliment an author can have. <3
This was one of the best books I have ever read. The book left me in tears and made me want to transport into the book and live there. I’m not a trans, but I can connect to Gabe. It feels like he’s a part of my own B track that’s begging to be played. You are such an inspiration to me and you’re now my favorite author. Keep up the good work!
Aw, Michelle–thank you–I appreciate being someone’s favorite author. What a kind thing to say! I’m glad you felt connected to Gabe. That was my goal, to get readers to connect with him on several levels.
Nice reading on the Youtube event thing today, just got my copy of your book =)
Hey Kirstin, awesome book. Sad how Gabe got outed, and sad that yes, there does exist people who wish to inflict bodily harm to another simply because they have different lifestyles. The death threats made to Gabe once outed is probably more realistic than we’d like to believe methinks
By the way, the eBook version on my phone was weird. I’d see messages like, “[NAME] IS THE NEW ELVIS BECAUSE … ” but on my tablet at the exact same location I didn’t see that. In fact, where it gets stranger is that when I search for it on my tablet, it does exist, but it’s hidden behind that city silhouette image.